Easy Homemade Mounds Bars and Almond Joy Bars

I used to enjoy mounds and almond joy bars years ago, but either they're making them sweeter and more bland, or my taste buds have changed (or both). Enter this easy recipe set for homemade mounds bars and almond joy bars. You get the rich, full taste of coconut and chocolate, without the cloying sweetness of commercial candy. Make them with coconut and vanilla extracts for homemade mounds bars, or almond and vanilla extracts (and almonds! 🙂 ) for homemade almond joy bars. There's plenty of healthy coconut oil, and they're sweetened only with honey.

Note: Since these bars have so few ingredients, it's really important to use the best quality ingredients you can to get the best flavor. I prefer Nutiva coconut oil, which to me has a flavor most like fresh coconut, but you can use any brand you like. I don't recommend refined coconut oil. It's flavorless (well, my sister said it tastes like candle wax) and will not bring out the coconut taste you want. The same goes for the other ingredients – fresher coconut flakes, good quality cocoa, real honey, real vanilla extract – good quality ingredients will sing, so-so ingredients will give you so-so bars. These will keep a long time in a sealed container in the freezer (if they don't get eaten), and are nice to have on hand for an occasional indulgence.

Directions for the Coconut Layer

To make the coconut layer of homemade mounds bars, start by melting the coconut oil and honey over low heat until soft. Don't overheat. Whisk to combine. Add the extract and coconut flakes. Alternatively, just dump it all in a bowl and mash together with your hands until well blended.

To make the coconut and almond layer of homemade almond joy bars, start by melting the coconut oil and honey over low heat until soft. Don't overheat. Whisk to combine. Add the almond extract and coconut flakes. Alternatively, just dump it all in a bowl and mash together with your hands until well blended.

Divide the coconut mixture evenly between your compartments. Make sure you get an even mixture of coconut flakes and coconut oil. Press firmly into pan/mold to get a solid candy with no air pockets. If making almond joy bars, place one or more almonds in each compartment.

Place in a freezer on a flat surface, and freeze until hard (about 30 minutes).

Directions for the chocolate layer of the homemade mounds or almond joy bars

Combine 3/4 cup cocoa powder, 1/4 cup honey, 1 cup coconut oil and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract in a small, heavy bottomed pot. Heat gently, and whisk until well blended. Pour into a liquid measuring cup to make it easier to pour into the molds.

Remove your muffin tins or molds from the freezer. Top each candy with a layer of chocolate. For full sized muffin tins, use about two tablespoons per muffin compartment. For mini muffin tins or candy molds, fill molds. Pour any excess chocolate into additional molds, or onto a piece of wax paper on a cookie sheet (you can break it apart later to eat like almond bark).

To remove the mounds bars from the full size muffin tins, simply slide a butter knife down one side and pop them out. Alternatively, invert on a clean counter and get the mold a thump. I found that the bars stuck a little in the mini muffin tins, but came out easily from the silicon mold and the peanut butter cup mold. Make sure they're completely frozen before you remove them from the molds.

Store these in the refrigerator or freezer, as they will melt if left out at warmer temperatures. (Coconut oil becomes liquid at around 75°F.) Sitting out for an hour or two at the party with temps in the low 70s, they were just fine. The coconut oil gives them a velvety texture. Once you try these homemade versions of mounds and almond joy, I bet you'll never buy the store bars again.

Chocolate Layer (use with either coconut layer)

3/4 cup raw cocoa powder (not dutch cocoa)

1/4 cup of honey (I used a scant 1/4 of a cup)

1 cup coconut oil

1 tablespoon vanilla extract (homemade extract is great if you have it)

Instructions

To make the coconut layer of homemade mounds bars, start by melting the coconut oil and honey over low heat until soft. Don't overheat. Whisk to combine. Add the extract and coconut flakes. Alternatively, just dump it all in a bowl and mash together with your hands until well blended.

To make the coconut and almond layer of homemade almond joy bars, start by melting the coconut oil and honey over low heat until soft. Don't overheat. Whisk to combine. Add the almond extract and coconut flakes. Alternatively, just dump it all in a bowl and mash together with your hands until well blended.

To assemble the candy, you can use a standard 12 compartment muffin tin or two miniature muffin tins with 12 compartments. Another option is candy molds. I purchased a Wilton 24 compartment silicon mold with 1.5 x 1.5 inch squares and a plastic Make'n Mold 12 compartment peanut butter cup mold. One recipe filled the silicon mold and the peanut butter cup mold, and left a little extra chocolate that I poured into the mini muffin cups.

Divide the coconut mixture evenly between your compartments. Make sure you get an even mixture of coconut flakes and coconut oil. Press firmly into pan/mold to get a solid candy with no air pockets. If making almond joy bars, place one or more almonds in each compartment.

Place in a freezer on a flat surface, and freeze until hard (about 30 minutes).

Directions for the chocolate layer of the homemade mounds or almond joy bars

Combine 3/4 cup cocoa powder, 1/4 cup honey, 1 cup coconut oil and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract in a small, heavy bottomed pot. Heat gently, and whisk until well blended. Pour into a liquid measuring cup to make it easier to pour into the molds.

Remove your muffin tins or molds from the freezer. Top each candy with a layer of chocolate. For full sized muffin tins, use about two tablespoons per muffin compartment. For mini muffin tins or candy molds, fill molds. Pour any excess chocolate into additional molds, or onto a piece of wax paper on a cookie sheet (you can break it apart later to eat like almond bark).

To remove the mounds bars from the full size muffin tins, simply slide a butter knife down one side and pop them out. Alternatively, invert on a clean counter and get the mold a thump. I found that the bars stuck a little in the mini muffin tins, but came out easily from the silicon mold and the peanut butter cup mold. Make sure they're completely frozen before you remove them from the molds.

Notes

Store these in the refrigerator or freezer, as they will melt if left out at warmer temperatures. (Coconut oil becomes liquid at around 75°F.) Sitting out for an hour or two at the party with temps in the low 70s, they were just fine.

Comments

These look delicious! I’m wondering where you buy your coconut oil from. I get mine at the health food store but it’s really expensive so when I see 1 1/2 cups for this recipe I’m thinking that’s more than half the jar! I’d appreciate any tips on that. Thanks.

I buy my coconut oil in bulk (by the gallon) from Nutiva or Tropical Traditions. It’s still not cheap, but definitely less expensive per ounce. If you click on the “coconut oil” links in the post, it’ll take you to Nutiva, which is my favorite for recipes like this because it has a lighter, fresher flavor. There are quite a few places online that sell it now.

Yes! DO NOT buy at Walmart! They do not have organic coconut oil. Yes, you will pay more for the large, organic jars (less processed, coconut smell intact) but remember, you are what you eat. If your making home made to be healthy, you don’t want to fill it full of yucky ingredients. People wonder why organic food is more expensive? What you should be asking is “Why is junk (fake) food so cheap?”

My Walmart only carries the refined organic coconut oil or a non-organic coconut oil…neither of those would be good for this recipe. Yes, it’s a little expensive…but just think about how much healthier this version is than the one you buy in the store…worth every penny to me!

I’m just trying to figure out why honey is considered non-vegan? To not enjoy one of God’s gifts to man, naturally, wholesomely and with great abundance seems contra indicatory. Do NOT want to get into a lengthy discussion of the moral or ethical meaning of eating meat or products of meat (animals). Just thinkin’ out loud, I guess.

I tried a vegan but did not know enough to keep myself in good health, and now eat mostly non-grain plant food, some diary and the occasional portion of critter. I always figured that being the product of living beings loosely in the category of “livestock” it could have fallen into the category of an animal product. As with many farmed creatures, they are worked very hard and from accounts I have heard and read, are not treated with much reverence or care for their well being. You’d think worm castings would logically fall in the same category, and even all the microorganism who live and die to enrich our soil, but that doesn’t seem to be the common perspective. As usual, how you feel about it is the best way to guide your actions. I got curious and looked for vegan perspectives. There are a lot of sassy comments from both directions. The one that had the most balance was this one: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2008/07/the_great_vegan_honey_debate.html None of the comments I read mentioned soil microorganisms. It made me wonder if it is uncommon for vegans to garden.

Jody – Sorry you had a bad experience, but when I served these over the holidays they were extremely popular, at least with the adults. Some of the kids didn’t find them sweet enough. You do need to make sure the honey stays well mixed, because if it settles out them you’re left with cocoa in coconut oil with a layer of honey underneath, which is not very tasty.

I tried by mixing the honey with the cocoa first, then adding in the coconut oil. The separation was minimized when I did this! I think they are great! When you get the processed sugar out of your diet, the lil’ bit of sweet tastes sweeter!

I regularly make yummy fudge with raw cacao powder, honey (I also learned to blend these two thoroughly FIRST), then slightly warmed but still solid enough to be white organic extra virgin centrifuged coconut oil. When that is well blended, I add organic shredded coconut, sometimes chopped nuts and sometimes a small amount of peanut butter and a pinch of cinnamon. If having to choose between enough honey for flavor and a solid texture, I favor honey! When shopping for the raw product, using the term “raw cacao (instead of cocoa) powder” might make it easier to find. The quality of cacao powders may vary. I have recently switched to buying mine from Nuts.com. Other well-known brands started tasting scorchy, and did not have the same nutritional/mineral balancing effects as they used to. I remember reading that processing cacao at low heat protects the anti-oxidant merits of cacao. It also, in my opinion, protects the flavor.

Made these this evening after they popped up in my news feed on Facebook. Disappointing, really. I was expecting them to actually be in the realm of Mounds and Almond Joy like and there are not even close. My kids will probably love them though cause they only get a sweet treat about once a month or so and this will seriously be wonderful to them. I do like that all of the ingredients are on my “good list” and along the Weston A Price guidelines of healthy foods. As I was making it I wondered if it would be good with a bit of butter in combination with the coconut oil. That may have actually made these better. As they are, I wouldn’t make them again though.

I’m sorry you were disappointed, but everyone who tried them here liked them. I had them out as part of buffet spread over the holidays, and they were the first sweet treat to disappear completely off the buffet. For me, the current versions of Mounds and Almond Joy in the store are way too sweet. I did use local raw honey, raw organic cocoa powder, organic unsweetened coconut and Nutiva coconut oil. I know different brands of ingredients can effect how a recipe turns out, especially when a recipe has only a few ingredients.

I clicked on your link to Amazon and saw that they also have a Freshware 30-Cavity Silicone Chocolate, Candy and Peanut Butter-Cup Mold which I ordered because it is silicone and therefore easier to unmold and it also has a larger capacity. I hope that you get credit since I did click to amazon through your recipe.

Wondering if grated Belgian Chocolate mixed into this recipe, alongside the cocoa powder would be a good addition? This recipe sounds fantastic & certainly much healthier than the store bought variety that’s loaded with GMOs & High Fructose Corn Syrup!

Just made these and they are absolutely delicious!!!! I tried a different recipe for these and it was just awful…so happy to have found this recipe!!!! Happy to have a sweet treat that my family can enjoy with all the junk that they will get trick or treating tonight…

I made something very, very similar to the mounds bar last night on a whim and they are fantastic. My son was looking over my shoulder and mentioned adding almonds the next time for healthy almond joys.

Just a thought… German Chocolate Cake lovers… just add some almonds to the frosting. Another idea: Add finely minced almonds to coconut, add enough coconut oil &/OR butter to be able to form balls; put in freezer until very hard. Melt chocolate of your choice & dip frozen balls in, drop on waxed paper to dry/harden. I would return to freezer. For eating, remove from freezer about 15 minutes, maybe (?). Another idea: chop up “Heath” chocolate candy bars to either recipe.

I luv chocolate as much as anyone!! 😉 The amount of oil in both layers sounds like an awful lot. Without trying this FIRST, I would just recommend in the most generous sense, adding oil a small amount at a time until you have the consistency you need without having to add overly too much. Or, switching it to 1/2 butter, 1/2 coconut oil. Anyone thought of using Coconut WATER instead of Coconut Oil? From what I can see, you really only need enough moisture to hold the ingredients together. I don’t care for ANYthing oily or fatty – just the taste & my digestion.

One more idea for coconut lovers – Mix coconut & almonds (or any nut) with coconut WATER, until it ALMOST holds it shape by squeezing in your hand. Roll into balls, freeze. Melt chocolate & dip/roll balls in chocolate – lay on waxed paper on COLD plate. Refreeze. Maybe bring out about 15 minutes +/- before eating.

If you wanted to swap in butter, that might work. I would not try coconut water, but you certainly can if you would like to. I enjoy fat and feel much better now that I eat it in quantity. Our brains are made up primarily of fat.

These look wonderful. My husband and I are on a keto diet and one of the treats we allow ourselves are called keto bombs. I haven’t done the analysis on these yet for carbs, but it looks like I may be able to adapt this for that. I’ll let you know how they turn out when I make them. Thanks for your site. I do enjoy it!

Glad you enjoy the site. It’s a lot of work, but it’s great to hear from readers who appreciate it.

If you need to drop the carb count even further, you may be able to cut the honey a little more and substitute Sweatleaf stevia drops in a complementary flavor. They have a 4 pack that includes chocolate, caramel, coconut and vanilla (amazon link). I haven’t tried these little bottles, but we’ve gotten their bigger dropper bottles of other flavors, and they were pretty good as a sugar free sweetener, with minimal aftertaste.

Haven’t tried these yet, but surely will soon. Have you posted a carb/fibre count on these anywhere? I was hoping to see that number. Thank you for your great recipes. Will enjoy wondering through your website. A friend sent me this page on Facebook. I’ll be sure to thank her.

I’m afraid I don’t have a staff to help, plus the serving size would vary based on the molds used for the finished product, so I haven’t done the calculations. There are a variety of online calculators that will crunch the numbers for you, such as this one from the USDA – https://www.supertracker.usda.gov/myrecipe.aspx , or this one from myfitnespal.